Sharon Johnson, senior correspondent of Women’s eNews, is a former correspondent for The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. She is at work on a book on war and medicine.

SINCE 1868, America has paused on Memorial Day to honor soldiers who have died defending the nation. This year’s remembrance will be a landmark occasion because America’s longest war is winding down. The last U.S. soldier is expected to leave Afghanistan in December.

But now our country faces a new challenge: since 2008, more soldiers have killed themselves at home than have died abroad. Fortunately, New Jersey is in the forefront of the movement to solve the problem of mental health conditions, the signature wound of the 13-year conflict.

Anna Kline and her colleagues at the Department of Veterans Affairs of the New Jersey Health System were among the first to sound the alarm. In February 2010, they published a groundbreaking study in the American Journal of Public Health that showed rates of post-traumatic stress disorder among returning soldiers ranged from 4 percent to 31 percent.

An anxiety disorder, PTSD occurs after a traumatic event, such as being wounded or seeing a fellow soldier die. Nightmares, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms can sabotage employment and relationships for years. A 2003 study of Vietnam veterans found that a majority of those with serious PTSD were reporting symptoms 20 years after the crippling event.

Kline also found that 19 percent of post-9/11 veterans had suffered traumatic brain injuries. In addition to cognitive and behavioral problems, torn tissues and bleeding in the brain increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s later in life.

Mental health conditions are common because of multiple deployments, which increase the risk of TBIs caused by bomb blasts. Sixty-five percent of casualties in Iraq were caused by blasts.

Unlike veterans of previous wars, a third of the 2.5 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been deployed for more than one tour, Department of Defense data show.

By 2012, 37,000 troops had been deployed five times, including 10,000 National Guard and reserve soldiers.

These invisible wounds pose enormous challenges for the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense. The current system doesn’t take into account the fact that it can take several years for veterans to emotionally come to grips with PTSD and TBIs on their own and more time to find and receive effective treatments.

As a result, some veterans self-medicate and become addicted to alcohol and drugs. The risk of suicide escalates. The VA estimates that more than 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Fewer than a quarter of those who took their lives were enrolled in the VA health system.

New Jersey has been at the forefront of the movement to solve the crisis. A decade ago, the New Jersey National Guard launched a 24-hour helpline run by veterans’ peer counselors who provide emotional support and suggestions for tapping resources to alleviate veterans’ concerns about everything from disturbing memories of firefights to family finances.

The helpline has been so successful that in December, the New Jersey National Guard was selected to launch a federally funded service called Vested Warriors, which will help those still in uniform.

New members of the New Jersey guard meet with an officer with advanced training in mental health conditions. Returning troops receive information about a wide variety of educational, employment and other services, including long-term counseling.

The New Jersey National Guard is one of the few state guard organizations to provide mental health services for families. Unlike Vietnam veterans, more 9/11 era soldiers are married and have young children.

Although other 9/11 veterans could benefit from these innovative approaches, national policymakers have shown little interest in solving the looming crisis.

President Obama’s budget calls for $7.2 billion to be spent on mental health programs for veterans of all wars in fiscal 2015, up $309 million from 2014. Congress has balked at increasing the amount because of its desire to reduce the $564 billion deficit.

Sen. John Walsh, D-Montana, who commanded an infantry battalion of the Montana National Guard in Iraq, introduced a bill on March 27 to overcome the problem.

“We spend billions of dollars making sure that men and women are trained and equipped to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever they are stationed around the world,” Walsh noted. “We should also take that into account when they come home to make sure they are ready to go back into society.”

In addition to extending the time to receive mental health treatment from five to 15 years, the legislation would mandate annual review of the VA and DOD’s care programs to ensure that they are working.

Because of a shortage of VA psychiatrists, more than a third of enrolled veterans who sought psychiatric appointments in 2013 faced more than a two-week wait, which increased the risk of suicide. Walsh’s bill would repay school loans for psychiatrists who commit to long-term service with the VA.

The bill faces an uphill fight. So far, six Democrats and one Republican have signed on as co-sponsors.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association, the first and largest organization of 9/11 veterans, is working to build grassroots support by urging the public to contact their representatives in Congress and the White House to pass the bill.

Doing so is a way for the 99 percent of Americans who have not served in the military to thank those who have put their lives on the line in America’s longest war.